Programmer clocks are used in banks and similar institutions in which the alarm system protecting the vault or other areas of the bank or institution is turned off, that is, "unset", during normal business hours and then turned on again, or "set", to protect the premises during other hours, all by means of the clock. Typically, the latter have taken the form of a synchronous motor driven clock having a large face circumferentially divided into the 7 days of the week with each day being further subdivided into its 24 hours. The times of each day when the alarm system is to be set or unset is determined by a series of "pointers" clamped at appropriate locations about a rim on the face of the clock and connected into the alarm system. These clocks, however, have a number of deficiencies.
In the first place, their accuracy tends to be poor, especially when a full 7 day program is laid out on one dial, since it is difficult, if not impossible, to position the pointers exactly. For instance, if the alarm system is to be unset at 8 a.m., often the pointer will have to be adjusted back and forth several times before the alarm unsets at that hour instead of 7:45 a.m. or 8:15 a.m. Next, if a holiday intervenes during the week, then it is necessary to remove the pointers for that day in order for the alarm to remain set, whereupon they must be then replaced with all the attendant trouble to do so accurately just described. Finally, the use of synchronous clock motors, typical of the other clocks in banks, makes it difficult to provide standby power.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is the provision of a programmer clock for the uses described which offers quick, accurate programming, can easily be programmed at any time and readily accommodate holidays, and is adapted to conventional standby power supplies.